Tactile perception of stress and intonation

Tactile perception of alteration in sentence meaning due to modification of intonation and stress patterns was determined for 10 normal hearing young adults. Stimuli consisted of sentences varying with respect to syllable length (4--7 syllables), place of stress (initial, medial or final), or intonation type (rising, steady or falling). All stimulus items were presented to the fingers by a bc oscillator at 15 db re vibrotactile threshold. Analysis of data using Chi Square yielded significant results for tactile perception of stress but scores for perception of intonation were no better than chance. These results show that taction is a viable modality to supplement a deficient auditory mode.